Rib-knitting machine.



Patented Oct. 26, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

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r") H H I L I Q Q Q II {d I H. W. NIERMEYER.

RIB KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.3. 19M, LMWF, Patented 0ct.26,1915.

3 SHEE S-SHEET 2 H. W. NIERMEYER.

I RIB KNITTING MACHINE.

APR.3. I9I4 Patented Oct. 26, 1915.

SHEETS SHEET 3 D A TNW AW WW WAWA nw dv AWA EW WATUQWJW WQ HENRY'W.NIIJRMEYER, or UTICA, NEW YORK.

RIB-KNITTING Maciimn Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 3, 1914. Serial No; 829,400.

of producing a tubular fabric comprising the two and two Swiss rib withmeans for disengaging a given number of needles and the patternmechanism comprising the well i known chain trip motion and measuringmachines so that at a predetermined point a set of cams will be broughtinto action to project the needles that are out of action while the twoand two Swiss rib is being produced so that the machine will instantlybe changed from that style of fabric so as to make a one and one ribbedfabric to give a larger diameter to the fabric tube as it'is beingproduced.

Another ob ect 1s to provide means which may be applied to any of thewellknown circular latch or spring needle rib knitting machines now inuse so that they may produce the two and two swiss and the one and oneribbed fabric, by manipulating the needles in such a manner as todispense with every third needle in the dial and cylinder while knittingtwo and two and to'again bring these needles into action when it isdesired to knit one and one fabric.

The fabric made with one and one, and two and two ribbed knitting isvery, desirable for ladies shaped garments. The two and two ribbedknitting is contracted and light, formin the waist, while the one andone ribbed knitting forming the top and bottom portion of the garment islarger and heavy.

Heretoforepthe knitting of ribbed fabric I with thin and contractedwaist portions has been accomplished by various ways as for instance:tight and loose knit fabric. This causes a tight fabric at the waistliiae,or,

waist portion is by change of y arns, cutting out the heavy yarn andsplicin in the fine yarn as the it. ment a more desirable fabric isproduced with less difiiculty and 'no changing of yarn or length ofstitch is necessary.

Patented Oct. 26, 1915.

With my improve- The change from one to the other style of fabric isaccomplished by a common pattern mechanism. '7

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 IS a view of a knitting machinewith my improvement applied thereto. Certain parts are shown in sectionwith portions broken away in order to clearly portray the invention.Fig, 2 1s a detail of the pattern mechanlsm. Flg. 3 is a top planskeleton view showing mechanism for operating the dial chain commonlyused on circular knitting needles looking down in the direction of thearrow of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view intended to illustrate the manner inwhich the cylinder cams are arranged to operate the needles. Fig. 5 areparts of the trip' mechanism for actuating the topneedle cams of. thecylinder.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the trip piece which cooperates with theparts shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a detail of a lug for holding thelovers which operate the cam ring. Fig. 8

is a detail intended to illustrate the manner in which the cam actuatingrings are placed one upon the other. Fig. 9 also shows the cam actuatingrings with links and connectin cams attached thereto. Fig. 10' is adetail of the housing ring. Fig. 11 is a detail .of the fabric made bythe machine. I

1 is a circular base plate which supports the knitting mechanism, beingcut out at 2 to receive the housing 3 which extends upward at 4 andsurrounds the cam mechanism. Adjacent thereto are section pieces 5circular in form to hold the section cam ring 6 in position.

7 is a cylinder slotted in the usual manner to properly guide theneedles and is secured to the part 1 by suitable screws.

The housing 4 is bored to receive posts 8,

which also act as guides for the rings generally indicated by 99,passing up through slots 10 and supporting the frame 11 which carriesthe supply of yarn and other mechanism suspendedtherefrom in a wellknown manner.

12 is a circular plate which is cut out at 13 to receive the cams 1-1for actuating the dial needles. Rings 15 and 16 are carried thereby, 16having pivotedly connected therewith links 17, while the ring 15 haspivotedly secured thereon links 18. The plate 12 has pivotedly securednear its hub by means of a shoulder screw 19 a long lever 20 having anoverhanging adjustable piece 21 screwed to its end. Said lever isslotted at 22 to receive a pin extending up from the ring 16 which also.passes through a slot in the lever 21 which is also pivotedly securedto the plate at An adjustable piece is secured to the lever 2-1 near itsend to properly cooperate with the trip mechanism. The ring 15 isactuated by a similar lever mechanisnnthe lever 27 being pivotedlysecured to the plate 12 at 28 and slotted at 29 to receive the pin 30while the lever 31 is pivotedly secured to the plate 12 at 32,.having aslotted end which also engages the pin 30.

By means of the two lever mechanisms above described two sets of camsare actuated to manipulate the long needles carried by the dial toproduce the different fabrics. hen the cams 33 are in the position shownin Fig. 3 the needles carried by the dial are in action to produce theone and one rib fabric. When it is. desired to change from the one andone fabric to the two and two Swiss ribbed fabric the pattern mechanismis brought into position to actuate the le vers 21 and 21 so as to turnthe ring to a position which will draw thecams 33 inward sufliciently tocause the long needles to make a tuck or royal stitch, that is to say.the stitch is held upon the latch so as not to cast off of same whilethe machine is making one stitch course, after which the ring 16 isgiven an additional movement by the levers 21and24 cooperating with thepattern mechanism to draw the cams 33 to their innermost position asrepresented. by dotted lines.see Fig. 3,at which time the long needlestravel in substantially a concentric path having no knitting movement,and remain in this position while the short needles make one stitchcourse. In order to remove the tuck or royal stitch which has beenretained by the long needles during the one course of knitting, Iprovide a set of cams 34 pivotedly secured to the plate 12 in suitablerecesses cut therein. These cams are actuated by the links 18 and'thering 15.

A movement is given to the ring 15 by the levers 27 and 31 toproject thecams 34 to the dotted line position,see Fig. 3,so that the long needlesas they pass by same will be projected so the loops will drop behind thelatch of the needles and as the needles are drawn back'loy the cam face35 the stitch is cast off from the needles. The cams 31 instantly returnto their initial position shown in the full line,see Fig. 3, after theyhave served the purpose of projecting the needles to assist in castingoff the stitch, at which time the long needles of the dial are inactivebecause of the concentric path 36 cooperating with the needles so therewill be no projecting movements given to the same while the machine isproducing the two and two Swiss rib fabric. The dial is provided withthe usual dial plate cams 11 forming a path 37 for the short needles. Itwill be seen that these cams are arranged in such a manner as to giveknitting movements to the needles which are used when knitting bothstyles of fabric herein described. These cams are attached to the dialplate 12 in a well known manner having a slight adjustment to regulatethe throw of the needles. The sectional cam ring 6 carries the usualcams forming the needle grooves in the well known manner, the partsforming the cams being made in suitable sections of such form as to giveaction to the needles performing the knitting function.

38 represents guard cams for the short needles of the cylinder.

39 is a movable cam carried by the stem -10 which extends upward andterminates in a projection -11 having a bevel end 12. Secured to thepart 41 is an adjusting block 43 also provided with a bevel end 14having slots 15 through which screws 46 pass to secure it to the part11. Said screws enter the apertures 47 in the part 11. The adjustingblock 13 is tapped out at 48 to receive screws -19 for the purpose ofadjusting it vertically on the part 11. while the screws :6 secure' itin position. By this means I am able to regulate the position of the cam39 in order to move the needles as desired to produce the differentstitch effects. Cooperating with the parts 41 and 13 is a screw 50carried by an angle bracket 51 which is slotted at 52 and provided witha clamping-screw 53 to secure the screw 50 in position. The anglebracket 51 has an extension 54 provided with apertures 55 through whichscrews 56 pass to secure it to the ring 96. The spring 58 is locatedunderneath the stem 10 to lift the cam plate 39 and keep it undervertical tension so that the cam plate 39 will return to its highest orinitial position as soon as the screw 50 is moved out of contact withthe blocks -13 and 41. There are several of these cams 39 with theircooperating devices as above described, according to the number of yarnfeeds carried by the machine. The relation of these cams in combinationwith the dial cams will be described more fully hereinafter.

59 represents the path for the top set of needles carried by thecylinder while 60 represents the path for the bottomset or long cylinderneedles.

61 represents guard cams for the long cylinder needles.

62 are combination lift-up and draw-down cams acting upon both sets ofcylinder needles. I

63 is a combination draw-down and guard cam for both sets of needles andis shaped at 6-1 so as to form a slot 65 between it and the cam 62 toremove and replace needles. The latch 66 is pivotedly secured at 67 tothe plate 62 in such a manner as to close the opening 65 to prevent thetop set of short needles falling into the bottom path of the longneedles.

It has been found in practice that in machines constructed for use withtwo sets of needles, one set operating in a path above the other, it hasbeen difiicult to arrange the cams so that the needles might be removedor replaced without inconvenience and the open slo-t has been foundimpracticable in use on account of the needles dropping from one path tothe other causing damage to the machine. I have entirely overcome thlsfault by applying a latch 66 which is seated in a recess in the cam 62having a spring 68 acting against the wall of the recess which holds thelatch. 66 in the full line position shown in Fig. 4. When a needle isremoved or replaced the cylinder is turned so that the needle groove ofsame will aline with the opening 65 so that the butt of the needle willcome in contact with the inclined edges of the latch and move it to thedotted line position permitting the needle to pass the same. Thus I haveprovided means which entirely overcome the possibility of damaging themachine 'by overcoming the danger of the needles getting displaced.

69 are; ordinary lift cams for the top or short needles while 7 0 areadjustable lift cams for the bottom or long needles and are pivotedlysecured at 71 to the cam ring 6.

Cam plates 72 form the bottom wall of the needle path 60 while cams 73are combination lift and guard cams. An opening 74 is provided toreceive the lifting cams'ZO when moved to the dotted line position,seeFig. 4. Lift cams 75 are pivotedly secured at 76 to the cam ring 6 andlie in the full line position shown in Fig. 1.

Mounted on the top 77 of the housing 4: is a ring 78 slotted to receivethe posts 8 for guidance in their circular reciprocating movement. Imake use of three similar rings as is clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9,one placed upon the other so that each may have an independent movementbeing actuated by separate and independent means, that is to say, eitherof the three rings may be shifted in either direction without affectingthe others. The bottom ring is Provided with downward projecting ears 79having pivotedly secured thereto at 80 links 81 connected to the cams 7Fig. 9 is intended to illustrate same in its lowest position as shown inFig. l. The pin 82,-see Fig. 8,- passing through a slot similar to slot83 of the rings is secured to the ring 78 and cooperates with the levers81 and 85 by means of elongated slots therein. The lever 85 is pivotallysecured at 86 to the cam ring 6.

from the full line position to the dotted line position,see Fig. 4,-forthe purpose hereinafter stated. The ring 91. resting upon the ring 78,is provided with depending ears 92 having pivotally secured thereto at93 links 94 connected tothe cams 70. The pin 95 is secured to the ring91 and passes through slot 83 and cotiperates with a pair of levers notshown 'but identical with 8+ and 85 which will be operated by thepattern mechanism. The top ring 96 is provided with a stud 97coiiperating with levers 98 and 99. The adjusting piece 100 is securedto the lever 98, and pin 101 is secured to the lever 99 projectingtherefromso as to travel in the path of the trip mechanism for actuating the same, the purpose of the strip or the difference in thelength of each lever is to give a double movement to the cam. that is tosay, when the short projection coiiperates with the trip device the ringwill be moved a short distance to bring the screw 50 to the dotted lineposition,see Fig. 1.- moving the cams 39 downward sufficiently to causethe needles to draw a longer stitch. As the trip mechanism contacts withthe top block of the lever the screw 50 is brought to the full lineposition shown in Fig. 1 depressing cams 39 to their fullest extentmaking a still,longer stitch. The object of this step movement is tomake the change from one style of fabric to the other gradually. that isto say, in order to change from the one and one to two and two fabric ithas been found desirable to depress the needles part way while knittingone course. then depress to the desired depth while making the nextcourse, continuing so while making the two and two fabric. It is wellknown that a longer stitch must be made while making the two and twofabric than when making the one and one fabric. When changing from twoand two to oneand one fabric the pattern mechanism is caused to actuatethe levers 99 and 100 to shift the ring '96 so as to move the screw 50out of engagement with the blocks 43 and 11 allowing the springs 58 toreturn the cams to their initial high position for the purpose ofknitting the one and one fabric. The posts e0 having the cams 39 securedthereto operate in suitable sockets in a well known manner. The housitigat is cut out as at 102 to give freedom for movement of the links 81 and94; and is also slotted at 103 for the pins 104 carried by the cams and7 5 to operate therein. The cam ring 6 is also slotted as at 105 topermit the pins 104 t move therein.

I make use of common pattern mechanism which may be briefly described asfollows: The wheel 106 is rotated and secured to the shaft 107 operatingin bearings 108 having a chain wheel 109 carrying the usual measuringchain 110. Said chain is provided with cam links 111 which cooperatewith the arm 112 of the lever pivoted at 113 while the other arm havinga projection at 111 is arranged so as to liftand hold the ratchet pawl115 out of full engagement with the ratchet wheel 116. It will beunderstood that the wheel 117 carried by the lever 118 pivoted at 119gives movement to the pawl 115 because of its co-acting with the usualcam carried by the cam ring 6. The pattern mechanism is supported by thebracket 120,

consisting of several chains 121 carrying the usual cam links for thepurpose of actuating,

the levers 122 upon their pivots 123 so as to lift the plungers 124which operate in bearings 125 and carry' disks 126 which cooperate withthevarious cam actuating levers as before described The operation of.the machine is as follows: The machine is put into rotary motioncarrying the usual yarns for making the cloth. The wheel 106 is turnedby the fabric, operating the chain 110, while the wheel 117 is actuatedonce for each revolution of the machine as the cam 111 lifts the lever112 so as to disengage the pawl 115. The ratchet wheel 116 is caused torotate operating the chains 121 so that the high links thereof willengage and lift the levers 122 so as to lift one of the disks 126 toengage the short end of the lever 24 to retract the cams 33 part way soas to make the royal or tuck stitch during one stitch course. During thenext stitch course the disk 126 is lifted higher to engage the long endof the lever 21 to retract the cams 33 to the dotted line position,seeFig. 3. Simultaneously with this cam movement another disk similar to126 is brought into engagement with the short end of the levers 99 and100 so as to shift the ring 96 bringing the screw 50 to the dotted'lineposition on the part -11 depressing the cam 39 part way. At the nextstitch course and simultaneously with the action of 'the cams 33 totheir full retracted position the last named disk is brought intoengagement with the long end of the levers 99 and 100 to move the rings91, 96 so as to bring the screw 50 on top of the block 4-3, depressingthe cams 39 to the fullest extent, at the same time the action takesplace on the cams 33 and 70. At the next stitch course the patternmechanism operates another disk similar to 126 to engage the lever 27while still another disk similar to 126 engages the levers 8% or 85 toshift the ring 78 so as to lift the cam to the dotted line position, seeFig. 4,and remain in this position for one stitch course to remove thestitches from the dial and cylinder long needles. By confining themovement of these cams to but one welt course of knitting of the longneedles I overcome the liabilityof making a continuous rundown orimperfect work, Immediately as the one course is knit while the cams 75are in the lifted position the mechanism is again tripped so as to shiftthe same to their initial position. \Vhen the point has been reached inthe making of the fabric where it is desired to reverse from the two andtwo to the one and one rib fabric the mechanisms above described areagain actuated to the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

It should be understood that needle latch openers are necessary toproperly carry out my invention.

- Referring to the fabric produced by the machine, shown in Fig. 11, AAindicates the one and one ribbed fabric on top and bottom, while BBindicates the two and .two ribbed fabric. The long dial needle loops areindicated by D, while the long cylinder needle loops are indicated by C.The tuck stitch course is indicated by the loops D and C. The loops Cand D are cast off the needles at theibeginning of the two and tworibbed fabric and when these needles are again put into action the loopsC and I) are formed to again make the one and one ribbed fabric.

It should be further understood that I do not limit my invention to thespecific detail of mechanism described and shown herein as it ismanifest that slight variations and changes in the construction of thevarious parts may be made without departing from the scope of theappending claims.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. In a knitting machine adapted to make tion of the dial needles;intermediate connections between the rings and the cams; a trip devicefor actuating the rings and a pattern mechanism for actuating the tripdevice; and an independent trip device coacting with the rings forshifting the dial needle cams to effect the dial needles simultaneouslywith the change effected on the cylinder needles.

2. In a knitting machine adapted to'make fabrics of different types, adial and a cylinder, each having needles, the shanks of recurrent dialand cylinder needles shaped sons to be controlled by movable camsadjacent the dial and cylinder whereby the knitting of said needles maybe changed independent of the other dial and cylinder needles. and tripmechanisms operated by an adjustable pattern device or devices, arrangedto change knitting from one and one to two and two fabric and viceversa.

8. The combination in a knitting machine adapted to make rib fabric ofdifferent types at predetermined intervals a cylinder and dial carryingneedles; recurrent needles thereof being longer than the others, needlecams and cam actuated mechanism including rings and levers andintermediate connections for changing the action of the recurrentcylinder and dial needles and tnip mechanism co-acting with said leversto effect the different types of knitting.

4. The combination in a knitting machine with a cylinder of two sets ofneedles therefor; a dilil carrying two sets of needles, each thirdneedle of the dial and cylinder being longer than the others so as totravel in a different path; a series of movable cams for the longneedles of the dial and cylinder; link connections for the camsrespectively; rings adjacent the cylinder and dial for actuating thelinks and cams; trip levers connected to the rings carrying steppedcontacts to co-act with the trip mechanism to move the needle cams ofthe dial and cylinder step by step to effect a gradual change in theknitting from one and one to two and two ribbed fabric; a patternmechanism controlled by the fabric to actuate the trip mechanism toeffect a change in the action of the dial and cylinder needlessimultaneously.

5. The combination in a knitting machine for making different types ofrib fabric, with the dial and cylinder, two series of needles carried bythe dial and cylinder recurrent needles thereof being operated byseparate cams of the dial and cylinder. certain of said cams beingmovable independent of the other cams, means connecting with andoperating said movable cams of the dial and cylinder to put therecurrent needles into and out of knitting action at intervals to changethe type of fabric being knitted.

(3. In a knitting machine adapted to make rib fabric of different typesat predetermined intervals, a dial and cylinder: needles therefor: camsfor actuating said needles, recurrent needles of the dial and cylinderbeing longer than the others, shiftable cams forming paths for the longneedles of the dial; and means for shifting said cams whereby saidneedles are put in and out of action automatically, other camsrelatively stationary forming paths for the short needles of the dial:and other shiftable cams forming paths for the long and short needles ofthe cylinder actuating connections for the shiftable needle cams of thedial and cylinder, and a trip device therefor co-acting with a patternmechanism.

7. In a knitting machine adapted to make rib fabric of different typesat predetermined intervals: comprising a needle cylinder and dial,needles in said cylinder and dial, recurrent needles thereof beinglonger than the others, actuating cams for the needles of the cylinderand dial, said cams being arranged to form separate cam paths for thelong and short needles including shiftable tuck cams and shiftablecast-off cams for the long needles, and other shiftable cast-off camsfor the short cylinder needle, to effect the stitch, and means forshifting the cams.

8. In a knitting machine adapted to make rib fabric of different typesat predetermined intervals, comprising a needle cylin der and dial,needles in said cylinder and dial, recurrent needles thereof beinglonger than the others, shiftable cams for the long needles and othershiftable cams for the short needles of the cylinder, controlling meansfor shifting the cams and long needles at intervals so as to hold aseries of knit loops during one knit course; and again shift saidneedles entirely out of action: said shifting movement being effectedstep by step, including means for adjusting the step by step 'movements,and a pattern mechanism therefor.

9. In a knitting machine adapted to make rib fabric of different typesat predetermined intervals, comprising a needle cylinder and dial,recurrent needles of the. cylinder and dial being longer than theothers, cams forming paths for actuating the needles: shiftable cams.insaid paths arranged to be shifted so that said long needles Will tuck atone course andv cast-01f is knitted and a step by step shifting deviceat another course and Will further keep the controlled by a patternmechanism.

long needles of the cylinder and dial out of action While knitting onetype of fabric: means to reverse the shifting of said cams and the longcylinder and dial needles into knitting action When another type offabric HENRY W. NIERMEYER.

WVitnesses:

JOHN P. WEIs, JOHN W. KANE.

